Oct. 3, 2018, 9:45 a.m.

To say that Christian Bale devoured the role of former Vice President Dick Cheney in “Vice” would be understating it.

The usually svelte British actor, who reportedly ate “a lot of pies” to transform into the political figure, is unrecognizable as former President George W. Bush’s veep in the first trailer for “Vice,” which dropped Wednesday.

“I’m a CEO of a large company. And I have been secretary of Defense and I have been White House chief of staff,” Bale as Cheney says to Sam Rockwell’s Bush in the trailer.

Oct. 2, 2018, 9:46 p.m.

Director Brett Ratner has dropped his defamation lawsuit against Melanie Kohler, the woman who last year posted on her Facebook account that he had raped her.

“This is a win for women everywhere. We are proud of our client, who stood by her statement and stood up for herself in court, and appreciate Mr. Ratner dismissing this case,” Kohler’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, said in an updated statement on Tuesday evening.

Early reports of the news from Deadline included a statement from Ratner’s lawyer, Marty Singer, saying the resolution had come as a result of Kohler’s memories being “cloudy and unclear about alleged events from more than a decade ago.” Within hours, however, Singer’s original statement had been removed from the Deadline story, replaced with one from Ratner in which the filmmaker said he was “pleased that this matter is resolved.”

Oct. 2, 2018, 2:47 p.m.

Ali Campbell, founding member and former lead singer of UB40, in 2007. (Themba Hadebe / Associated Press)

After being pulled into the scrum surrounding Brett Kavanaugh, Ali Campbell of reggae band UB40 has distanced himself from the Supreme Court nominee.

Campbell was dragged into the ongoing saga surrounding Kavanaugh’s confirmation this week. One of the judge’s former Yale classmates shared his account of a 1985 altercation between a young Kavanaugh and a man Kavanaugh thought might be Campbell, then the lead singer of UB40 before leaving the group in 2008.

It was then that a fellow patron at the bar accused Kavanaugh of throwing ice at him.

Oct. 2, 2018, 12:44 p.m.

LeBron James’ docuseries “Shut Up and Dribble” has set its premiere date, and on Tuesday, Showtime offered up a preview of the politically charged sports project.

The first of three installments of the series, executive produced by the NBA superstar alongside Maverick Carter and director Gotham Chopra, will premiere on Nov. 3, the premium cable provider announced Tuesday.

The remaining two episodes will air over the following two weeks, on Nov. 10 and Nov. 17.

Oct. 2, 2018, 12:06 p.m.

Tom Petty was photographed at his Malibu home in late September 2017, not long before he died on Oct. 2. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

A year after the music world was knocked back on its heels by the sudden death of Tom Petty, a few bands have released cover songs to commemorate Tuesday’s anniversary.

The Lumineers (of “Hey Ho” fame) released their cover of Petty’s “Walls,” with all proceeds from the song donated to MusiCares, a charity of the Recording Academy.

"Tom Petty is a musical hero of mine, and 'Walls' is such an incredible song," Lumineers guitarist and lead vocalist Wesley Schultz said in a statement Tuesday. "When I got married, my wife walked down the aisle to the song.”

Oct. 2, 2018, 9:01 a.m.

Late rocker Tom Petty at his home in Malibu on Sept. 27, 2017, days before his death at age 66. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

(A handful of days before Tom Petty died on Oct. 2, 2017, the celebrated rock musician invited The Times’ Randy Lewis into his Malibu home for what would become Petty’s last interview. On the one-year anniversary of Petty’s death at age 66, read (and hear) what he told Lewis just after a string of triumphant shows at the Hollywood Bowl with his longtime band, the Heartbreakers.)

This is not the Tom Petty story that I intended to write.

Though I was more than thrilled to catch up with Petty, whom I had interviewed before, I had no clue that this would turn out to be the last, for me and for him — that he would die just a few days later after going into cardiac arrest at age 66.